$1 reward for each rat caught dead or alive in KL

Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) will reward people who catch rats in a bid to control the rodent population here.

The campaign, which runs until Dec 7, will see MBPJ giving out RM3 (S$1) for each rat caught in the city.

The reward can be claimed from officers stationed at the SS2 basketball court in Jalan SS2/61 from 9am to 11am daily.

They will only accept rats caught in the city and the reward is only for Petaling Jaya residents, said Petaling Jaya mayor Datuk Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain, who joked that MBPJ officers could tell if the rodents were "city" or "non-city" ones.

"We are doing our best to reduce the rat population with two methods - traps or poison.

"Poisoning is faster and more effective," he said.

However, he said all efforts would be in vain if public and commercial areas including eateries were dirty.

Mohd Azizi said drains filled with food waste would attract rats.

"If cleanliness is not prioritised, the rat population will keep growing.

"Shop owners should engage pest control companies to ensure their premises are rodent-free," he said.

The event was attended by Damansara Utama assemblyman Yeo Bee Yin and officers from the MBPJ health department.

They handed out 200 rat traps to show owners around the SS2 commercial square.

This year, MBPJ received 55 complaints relating to rats and 1,587 rats have been caught in the city.